


The Second Best Man

by spacedust719



Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018) Actor RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, very slight angst, wedding au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 09:49:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18689065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedust719/pseuds/spacedust719
Summary: Y/N is one of her best friend’s maids of honor. She gets paired up with a charming, goofy best man.





	The Second Best Man

**Author's Note:**

> This was part of @supersonicfreddie’s big tropey writting challenge on tumblr originally. I posted it here for fun as well.  
> Its on my tumblr (@spacedust1124719) if you feel the need to see it on there

The loud noise of your heels hitting the ground startles you. You aren’t used to the hardwood floors of your new house yet. I really need to get a rug in here you think to yourself as you lay face down on your bed, burying your head in the pillows. Why did Ashley think setting me up on a date with that guy was a good idea? You’d just returned home from a blind date with your coworkers’ husband’s friend. Steve basically talked to your chest the whole night. It got even worse after he got drunk. It had been your 3rd bad set up in a row by various people. Just as you were wondering if you should try downloading a dating app instead of relying on friends, your phone starts ringing. You see a picture from college of you and your friend Risa, she has a tiara on and you’re wearing a crown made from your organic chemistry molecule kit piece. It seems weird that she’s calling at 10 pm on a Saturday night when you were pretty sure she also had a date. Hers happened to be with her spectacular boyfriend though. 

“Well hello there Risa” There is a very high pitched squeal on the other end of the line with masculine laughter in the background. You start laughing, “I take it you are having a good night then?”

“Y/N!!!! I’m having the BEST night! Ryan proposed!”

“Holy sh…. That’s fantastic!! Congratulations!!” You knew they were perfect for each other and this would happen eventually but they’d only been dating 6 months. 

More squealing commences followed by, “Thank you! I am so happy right now! I just wanted to call and let you know before we start celebrating.” 

“I’m so happy for you, and Ryan. Please pass that along to him! I want to know the whole story soon!”

Ryan responds, “You’re on speaker. Thanks!”

Risa giggles, “You, me, and Shanna are having dinner Monday night. I just decided. I’ll tell you the story then we can start planning. I need both my maids of honor’s help.”

Ryan interrupts her, “My mom is throwing an engagement party in 2 two weeks. We need you there too.”

“I can do that… Wait! Did you just say maids of honor?”

Risa laughs yet again, she sounds elated, “Duh, Y/L/N! Neither of us would ever be able to pick between our best friends. We’re both having two. I gotta go love, but I’ll see you Monday. Can you and Shanna pick a restaurant?” 

“Of course! Love you guys! Congrats again!”

**********

You are waiting for your friend Shanna to finish putting her lipstick on in your passenger seat before walking into the restaurant to help decorate for the engagement party. When she is putting the lipstick back in her purse, she pulls out a little toy car. Side effect of having two small sons. You laugh when she offers it to you.

“You need this for tonight?”

“I’m good. I have a truck in mine.” You pat your clutch before opening your door. You two start walking inside. You have a sudden realization about the wedding party, “Have you met the non-Ben best man?”

“Not yet. I know he’s a teacher and I think his name is John.”

You scrunch up your face, “I thought Risa said he was an actor?”

“I think he teaches drama…. or history… possibly math.” Shanna grits her teeth.

You snort unattractively, “So we know he’s a teacher in general.” 

She grabs your arm suddenly and roughly, “We are going to have to act normal around Ben and his husband.”

You don’t know how she means that. Surely she didn’t have an issue with the gay thing, her sister is bi. “What do you mean?”

“Oh honey! I stalked Ben on Facebook when I was substitute teaching today. I can’t decide which husband is better looking.”

You have to stop walking because you are laughing so hard at how thirsty she sounded. “Why are you looking? Or stalking? You are married, he’s married and he likes men.”

“I’m married, not dead. I can still windowshop. I wanted to see who I was walking down the aisle with. Maybe you’ll find something to try on.” She nudged you while you roll your eyes are her phrasing.

“I am just going to help celebrate our friend’s engagement. I will not be shopping or trying anything on.” As soon as you guys open the door, Ryan’s mom gives you both a bunch of stuff to do to finish setting up. You jerk your head towards the bar where one of Ryan’s sisters is lounging while sipping a martini. Shanna rolls her eyes while grabbing a stack of picture frames to place around on the high top tables. 

You are trying to re-light a tealight that got extinguished only an hour into the party when a drink is set down next to your arm. “Risa instructed me to bring this to you.”

You glance over at a man with brown, or is it red hair and an adorable smile, and you smile back, “Thanks! What is it? It’s orange.”

“Aperol spritz. We Mazzello’s like showing off our Italian heritage.”

“Oh! You’re related to Ryan? Hi, I’m Y/N.” You put down the lighter and extend your hand to shake. You feel a jolt of electricity when he claps your hand.

“Joe. Cousin, best friend, and second best man.” 

You look down at your joined hands, “I’m encouraged by your firm handshake that you won’t let me trip walking down the aisle. I’m pretty sure we are paired up for this whole thing.” You gesture around with your free hand. 

Joe gets a very serious look on his face, “I will fall on my face before I let that happen.” You snort when you laugh. You hate that you do that. Joe smirks, “Oh you’re adorable.” You feel slightly embarrassed at that and take a drink since you don’t know how to respond. You look around the room a little bit and see Shanna talking to Ben and a tall brunette man. You notice his hand is on Ben’s back.

“Dear god, Shanna was right.” You don’t really mean to say it outloud.

Joe follows your eye line, “What are we looking at?”

“Ben and his husband. Shanna, the matron of honor, told me she couldn’t decide which was better looking.”

Joe is frowning when you look back towards him. “Yeah. Ben’s hot. Gwil’s hot. They are both so hot. Ryan really should have made me the first best man. Ryan’s not ugly but Ben is better looking than everyone. I wouldn’t be as distracting next to Ryan.”

You shake your head at him, “You’re plenty distracting.” 

Joe quirks an eyebrow, “oh yeah, you think?”

“Ahh… I just mean… we are all going to be a super hot wedding party. Did you just get here?”

“Yeah. I had to go let my girlfriend’s dog out after school. It was a bit out of the way.” You hum in acknowledgement. You’re afraid if you talk out loud he’ll pick up on your disappointment at him not being single. 

You take another drink and trust your voice enough to ask, “You teach which grade again?”

“High school history and drama. It’s a small school. Ryan said you’re a geneticist. That sounds way too smart for me.”

“I am actually a genetic counselor.”

Joe squints at you, “I now have less of an idea of what you do for work.”

You chuckle, “Briefly, I evaluate someone’s own or their family’s risk of an inherited condition and help them understand it. If they do have something, I help them get set up with other medical professionals if needed, or just talk with them about it like a regular counselor.”

Joe voice is full of sarcasm, “So you’re smart and a good person. Good for you.”

You laugh at him yet again, “You’re the overachiever that teaches two vastly different subjects.” Don’t flirt with him. Don’t flirt with him. He has a girlfriend.

Joe smugly says, “Oh, I make my history students act out historical events.”

You tilt your head at him, “does that mean you let your kids sword fight?”

Joe’s head falls back when he laughs hard, “You ARE smart!”

Risa and Ryan approach you guys. Risa pulls you to her side hugging you. She presses a kiss to your temple. “I see you’ve met your partner. Seems like you’re getting along well.” Ryan throws his arm around Joe and whispers something to him. Joe half smiles then the smile fades as Ryan continues. Joe murmurs, “I know man. I’ll do it Sunday night.” Risa just shrugs when you look at her. Joe and you make your way over to Shanna, Ben and Gwil. Joe fills you all in on the Mazzello side of the family dramas. Ben knows some since he’s been friends with Ryan and Joe since college. Between you and Shanna, you are able to fill the boys in about Risa’s side. Shanna has known Risa two years longer since you transferred colleges halfway through. You get to spend a little more time with Risa now. Shanna has two small sons while you and Risa are both kid free.

Shanna links her arm in yours as you walk back to the car. “Was I right about Gwil and Ben, or was I right?”

You chuckle, “Sooo right!” 

“Did I see you flirting with Joe? Are you going to take him into the dressing room and try him on?”

“Nope,” you make the P pop, “He has a girlfriend.”

Shanna gives you a thumbs down “Boo!!!” 

************

This has not been your morning. You got called into work about 3 am to explain to the parents of a newborn with ambiguous genitalia what it could mean. It’s the only real “emergency” you get call in for with your job. The doctors are usually too busy and you have more training with the counseling part of this kind of new. You couldn’t answer too many of their questions till some blood tests came back. You were thankful they took the news seemingly pretty well. They were going to name the baby Taylor before getting the news. The mom said that worked for any gender. You were pretty sure she was too tired from labor to be able to process anything yet. You were sure she’d be calling you soon to ask more questions. After that you had to tell a young man he had Huntington’s. You knew that was coming but it’s still terrible. It’s basically a death sentence and the guy was about to graduate college. He cried, a lot. You were able to hold your own tears in you got in your car to go cake tasting. You were thankful you could eat your feelings. You couldn’t find a close parking spot. Right after you got out of your car, the light drizzle turned into true rain. You didn’t have an umbrella in your car. Your jacket didn’t have a hood. This seems about right for today. Your hair is a wet mess when you get to the bakery. You immediately make eye contact with Joe. He smiles and you can tell he’s trying not to laugh. He pulls out the chair next to him.

He pulls on a soaked strand of your hair, “this is a good look. Do you think you’ll wear it this way for the wedding?” You smile at this but you can tell it doesn’t reach your eyes. Joe leans over and nudges you with his shoulder, “You okay?”

You take a deep breath and sigh, “I’m ready for cake.”

Joe smiles at you. “You’ve come to the right place.” You greet the others at the table. You grab the pen out of Joe’s shirt pocket and use it to hold your hair in place after twisting it into a bun. Joe looks impressed. You turn your face forward to see Shanna and Ben both smirking at you. During the tasting Joe seems to be doing his best to try and make you laugh. His antics work to make everyone but the lady trying to explain all the flavors to the group laugh. Half way through, Joe steals your fork. He is insisting on feeding you.

“No, Joe. I’m an adult. I’ll do it.” You reach over to try and grab it back. 

Joe grips your wrist, “You seem to have had a rough morning. Let me help.”

You roll your eyes, “It was mentally tiring, not physically. I can still use a fork.”

“I insist. I am your partner in this wedding.” He gives you an unconvincing stern look.

You point at his face, “Does this face work on your students?”

“No! They are all little jerks.” You laugh hard at this and Joe seizes the opportunity to shove a bite of cake in your mouth. You wipe the frosting that smeared on your cheek off with your thumb and rub it on Joe’s cheek. He bites your thumb. Your eyes get huge when he sucks the rest of the frosting off. The bakery worker comes back with more samples. Her stern look is very effective. Both you and Joe hang your heads like children sent to the principal's office. After bringing out the last of the flavor samples, she leaves you guys to discuss options. Risa is up talking to her about tiers, decorations, and pricing. 

Joe asks Ryan, “How many of these little square samples do you think I can fit in my mouth?” 

Ryan laughs, “You are a hazard.” He pauses and looks for Risa, who is still occupied at the front counter. “$5 you can get 5.”

Ben, “You’re a coward. Do 10.”

Joe considers it, “How much?”

Ben looks up to the ceiling, “$15 if you don’t choke. $10 if you do.” 

You look at Shanna, “Do you know the 

Shanna laughs, “For babies!? Just slap his back really hard if he chokes.”

Joe starts picking up the squares and shoving them in. When he has 6 you ask incredulously, “How big is your mouth?”  
Joe tries talking, “I nee ooo eww 

You lean towards him, “what was that?”

Joe tilts his head back a bit, “Help.” He points at you, the cake, and then his mouth. You are able to push 3 more cubes in. You are crying for the second time today, but this time from laughing so hard. You are not alone in this. Shanna is pulling tissues from her purse to wipe her tears away. He starts banging on the table and points to another piece.

“Joe, no! I don’t think Ryan will appreciate it if I murder you.”

Ben chimes in, “He has a spare best man.” Joe slaps the table. You shake your head and pick up another piece. It takes a minute but you are able to shove the 10th piece in. Joe raises his hand triumphantly. He impressively is able to start chewing before he chokes. Risa calls you and Shanna over to ask for your opinion about some decoration options. While looking through a book of pictures of cakes, you glance over at the boys and met Joe’s eyes. He pulls a huge grin. You automatically give one back. Shanna pokes you and you return looking at the cake pictures. 

As you are all leaving, Joe calls your name. You stop and turn around towards him.

He jogs a tiny bit to catch up to you, “What are you doing now? I am $15 richer, can I buy you a drink?”

You can help but smile at him. You are about to wholeheartedly agree till you remember he has a girlfriend. “I can’t. I need to go back to work and finish some paperwork.”

“Can I see your phone?” You shrug and hand it to him. He smiles at it, then holds it up to your face, then back to himself. He looks smug. You reach for it back when you realize he was able to unlock it with your face. Your work had bought you the new fancy iPhone. Joe turns away from you. You look around his shoulder. He is entering his phone number and texting himself. He turns back around. “Text me if you change your mind after. Or just in general. Or if you need someone to talk to.” 

You look at the ground, bit your lip, then back up at him, “Thanks. I appreciate it. Your ridiculousness helped improve my day a lot.” You make eye contact. The sky is clear now. The combination of the bright sunlight and Joe’s green button-down makes you realize he has hazel eyes and not brown like you previously thought. There is some green around the edges. Stop. Don’t get drawn in. He’s taken. You lift your hand and give a small wave. “Bye Joe.”

************

A couple weeks later, you are to meet Risa afterwork to try on bridesmaids dresses with one of the bridesmaids, Marie. She is one of Risa’s highschool friends who you know a lot about but have only met in person a couple times. Risa is stuck in traffic behind a car wreck. Luckily, you and Marie get comfortable around each other fast. Trying on dress after dress is a lot of fun because you guys are able to laugh at how terrible some of them fit. You send pictures to Risa of ones that you like. She is letting you all pick different styles and 4 shades to pick between. The shop attendant brings you one she said Risa had wanted you to try. You are surprised at the dress. It’s a pale gold sequin dress. Some of the sequins are matte so it would work with the fabric of the other non-sequined dresses. You try it on and instantly know it’s the one. Marie agrees. You leave the dressing room area to go look at the giant mirrors farther out in the store. You are walking on a tiny platform in front of wall of mirrors to see how it moves. You hear a familiar voice. You look up and see Joe and Ben in the mirror. They are both in navy suits, but slightly different styles. 

Ben walks up behind you. You can see him appraising you with his eyes. “Damn, Y/N. You look good. I may actually be jealous of Joe for once.” You giggle.

Joe is offended, “Hey!” He looks at you softly, “He’s right though. You look incredible.”

“Thanks, guys. You both look great too.”

Joe adjusts his tie, “I look like fucking James Bond.” You chuckle and Ben scoffs.

“Come here, Joe. Ben, do you have your phone?” Ben gets his phone out. Joe quickly catches on and hops up onto the platform. He poses, acting like he’s adjusting his sleeves. You drape your arm around his shoulders. Ben keeps taking pictures of your various poses, some serious and some goofy. He gives suggestions and occasionally moving limbs for better pictures. Risa comes in when Joe is trying to pose with James Bond with his hand making a gun and you are trying to sexily slink against him like you’re the Bond girl. She starts laughing breaking both of your concentrations. Ben says he’ll send you the pictures. Risa approves of both their suits and your dress. She goes back to the dressing rooms to help Marie make a choice. She isn’t having as much luck. Ben invites you to go for dinner. He and Joe are meeting up with Gwil and Ryan. You agree when you learn Risa and Marie are also going. You figure the more people, the less likely it is you’ll end up next to Joe. That means you’ll be less tempted to flirt with him. You’ve definitely developed a crush. You need to get rid of that since it can’t go anywhere.

************

You are sitting in a dance studio in a folding chair with your head leaning back against the mirror covered wall. You let your head fall to your shoulder and move your eyeline to look at Joe sitting next to you. He can’t stop laughing at Ben being taught how to lead instead of following a lead. Apparently Gwil always leads when they dance. You mumble to Joe, “Why do we all have to take dance lessons?”

Joe shrugs, “Aunt Leann insisted and said she’d pay for it. So here we are…” Joe waved his hand out towards the dance studio. Joe turns and looks at you. You notice instantly how close his face is to yours. Your eyes instantly fall to his pale pink lips. You sit up straight instantly forcing yourself away from his face. It was way too inviting. 

“You should really stop laughing at Ben. You aren’t much better. You were stepping on my feet.”

Joe playfully shoved your shoulder, “take that back. I was not.”

“Do you want to see the red spots?” You held out your foot in front of him. There wasn’t an actual red spot but you were trying to distract him and yourself from the fact you had just been looking at him like you wanted to kiss him. 

“Oh, just you wait! I’m going to make you regret that.” Joe looked at you with a sly glint in his eyes. Your feet were already hurting because you were anticipating him purposefully stepping on them now.

When you guys got up for your turn, you could see Joe smirking over at you as you walked to the middle of floor. Joe grabbed your hand and spun you into his chest. A surprised noise escaped your mouth followed by your entire body getting warm because Joe’s hand on the small of your back firmly pressing you against him. As soon as you put your arm around his shoulders, he started leading you. When you looked up at him, he wiggled his eyebrows at you followed by a shit eating grin. He lead you in an almost flawless dance. You were the only one making slight mistakes. He turned you so you were facing the same direction as him and his hands were wrapped around your hips. You gasped when he started breathing against your ear while his hips hit the back of yours. Shanna and Risa were both giving you a thumbs up. Joe leaned his head against the side of yours. You closed your eyes for a second forgetting people were watching when the music suddenly stopped. The instructor gave you guys permission to sit back down. You sat down next on Shanna’s left because it was the only chair on that side of her. You didn’t trust yourself to sit next to Joe right now. You rubbed your sweaty palms on your jeans. Looking up, you noticed a sad expression on Joe’s face. He slumped down in a chair next to Ben. You leaned towards Shanna to whisper, “I need to leave before I jump him. How come the only guy I seem to have chemistry with taken?” Shanna shrugged and rested her head on your shoulder. 

************

Right as you were getting ready to take off your makeup for the night, your phone started ringing with a surprising number on the caller ID. Someone from the drag club and karaoke bar, the Zesty Cucumber was calling you. You were more than curious what this could be about, “Hello?”

“Hi darling, is this Y/N?”

“Yes, this is her.”

“This is Monica Courtesan at the Zesty Cucumber. I have a very drunk and thirsty ginger that wants to speak with you.” You started cracking up. You hear a familiar voice yelling something in the background.

“Thank you Monica.”

Joe came on the phone, “Y/N!! I am drunk!”

You giggle, “That is very obvious.”

Joe sounded serious now, “NO! You don’t understand. I need you. I am drunk. I was doing an amazing job at karaoke and one of my students saw me. I am DRUNK. They saw me! I AM THEIR TEACHER!”

You weren’t really sure what he wanted you to do about this situation. You tried comforting him, “You weren’t drunk at school. It’s fine.”

Joe whined, “Will you come rescue us?”

“Just call a taxi or uber.”

“We don’t have money or phones. That’s why Ms Courtesan called you.”

“How did that happen?”

There was shuffling on the phone then Ryan started slurring, “Y/N? Can you come get us? Our keys and phones are in Ben’s car. He and Gwil abandoned us to go home with the most handsome man I’ve ever seen named Rami”

You didn’t know if you heard that correctly, “Raw me like R-A-W M-E? Was he a hooker?”

Joe hollered into the phone, “Come save us!”

You whined, “Can I just get an uber for you?”

Ryan was back on the phone, “You have a key to Risa’s right? I need to get in without waking her.” With a deep sigh you agreed to come get them. 

Joe and Ryan sandwich you in a hug when you walk into the bar. Joe mumbles something about you smelling good.  
“Come on drunk boys.” You hook your arms in theirs and walk to your car. 

When you start your car, you have a sudden realization and turn to Joe in the passenger seat who is struggling with his seatbelt. “How did you know my phone number?”

Joe looks embarrassed and guilty glancing between you and Ryan sitting in the backseat looking blissed out. He pouts at you for a second. “I kept wanting to text you or call you but would chicken out. I’d just end up staring at your contact information. I guess I memorized your number.”

You felt your cheeks get warm and turned to look at the steering wheel, “I don’t think you should have done that. I don’t think your girlfriend would like it.”

Joe looked incredulous, “I don’t have a girlfriend?! Haven’t for months.” He turned to Ryan in the backseat, “Dude! You were supposed to subtly tell her.”

Ryan leaned forward with closed eyes and a huge smile. He put his chin on the back of your seat. “Psst. Y/N. Joe is single. He has been since the day after you met.”

You realize all the moments you thought he might be flirting with you are so much better now. It was perfectly fine for Joe to be doing so. You’d been kind of annoyed with him flirting with you while he was taken. That wasn’t the case at all though. You looked over at Joe, teasing him, “I’m so mad you’re drunk right now.”

Joe looked excited, “Why? Why are you mad?”

“No reason. I’ll tell you a different day. Pretty sure you wouldn’t remember if I told you right now.”

Joe gave you a very light kiss on the cheek when you dropped him off with Ryan at Risa’s house.

************

The day of the wedding rehearsal is hectic and it’s only the rehearsal. You are in your second post office of the day trying to find the location of a missing package containing the bracelets meant to be a gift for the flower girls. Risa has ordered them 2 months ago from Etsy. What is the day of the actual wedding going to be like? This post office doesn’t have the package either despite the tracking information saying its here. Shanna and you spilt up to finished all the errands before you have to check into the hotel. You are on your way into the mall to buy replacement flower girl gifts when you get a text from Joe. It’s a video of him and Ben screaming at the airport. Oh crap, what is wrong now? You dial Joe’s number.

Joe has a fake casual voice when he answers, “hey girl, what’s up?”

This weird greeting makes you more concerned something is wrong, “What’s wrong?”

“Do you think Risa needs her uncle at the rehearsal?”

You slap your hand to your forehead, “Since he’s performing the wedding, he could be important.”

Joe grumbles, “yeah, figured that. His flight is going to be 3 hours late. He won’t get in till right before the rehearsal. Are you with Risa?”

“No, she’s at the venue overseeing the decorations. What are you guys supposed to do after picking her uncle up?” You try and think of who would have time to go back out to the airport so this can be fixed without having to freak out Ryan or Risa.

You must be on speaker phone because Ben answers, “We are supposed to get hair cuts with Ryan and then go get the tuxes.”

Of course it’s something they can’t skip. “Ben, would Gwil be able to go pick Harold up? That way you guys can still get everything you need to done?”

You can hear one of them nervously tapping on something. “I’ll ask him. We’ll call you back if Gwil can’t and we don’t find someone else to.”

“Thanks guys. Don’t tell Ryan unless we need to. I’ll see you guys later tonight.” You are about to hang up when Joe starts speaking again.

He sounds nervous, “Y/N?”

“Yes, Joe? Is there something else wrong?” You sigh. 

“No! Not wrong… would… I’m looking forward to seeing you later.”

You can’t help the giant smile on your face. “I’m looking forward to seeing you too.” 

Joe had actually started texting you Sunday afternoon after you took Ryan and him home from the bachelor party. You weren’t sure how much he remembered from the night. He started off with just thanking you for dropping him off and apologizing if they had woken you up when they called. The only other part of the night he mentions was his student not commenting about seeing Joe drunk, just that he was really good at karaoke.

You were carrying giant bags of movie theater popcorn into the venue when you ran into Joe in the hallway. He was on the phone but he grabbed your elbow to stop you. He traded his phone for the bags so you could explain to Gwil what Risa’s uncle looked like. Gwil was at the airport waiting for the plane to pull up to the gate. You told him you’d just have Risa send him a picture of the uncle and the uncle a picture of Gwil. When you got off the phone, you couldn’t find Joe to give him his phone back. You would see him soon for the rehearsal so you figured you’d just hold onto it. Wondering how much time you had before you needed to change, you tapped the screen on Joe’s phone to check the time. You were greeting by your own face on the lockscreen. His wallpaper was a picture of the two of you when you were trying on dresses and tuxes. You’re practically skipping when you go to the bridal suite to put your dress on. 

The wedding party is starting to gather in the back of the venue waiting for instructions and to practice walking out. Shanna and you are the last to arrive because you had been helping set up. The wedding planner basically pushes Shanna next to Ben and you next to Joe, who greets you with a huge smile and twinkling eyes. He looks really good. He’s wearing a navy button down with thin white and red vertical and horizontal stripes tucked into black dress pants. You slide in next to Joe and wrap your arm around his. Ben turns around to look at you and starts to chuckle, “Did you guys coordinate outfits?”

You look down and realize your red dress is the same shade of red in Joe’s shirt. You start laughing. Joe looks smug and lifts his head to talk to Ben, “You’re just jealous you didn’t think about it,” then he fist bumps you. You actually hadn’t planned on it. You pull his phone from the pocket of your dress.

You try not to laugh or look embarrassed, “We do look good. Maybe we should take another picture for your phone.” You hand him back the phone. Blush creeps up his face as he realizes you saw the background. 

Shanna reaches her hand out, “do you want me to take a picture?” Joe hands unlocks the phone and hands it to her. She looks at the phone, smiles, then looks up at you. You smirk at her as you lean against Joe for the picture. The wedding planner starts giving everyone instructions. You whisper to Joe, “I liked the phone background. Just so you know.” When you look over at him, he’s blushing again. 

His eyes go soft when he asks you, “Do you have a date for the wedding?”

You bite your lip, “the wedding that’s tomorrow?”

Joe is about to respond when Shanna interrupts, “I’m her date. The husband is staying home with the kids.” Joe nods and looks down at the ground almost forlorn. 

You nudge him while waiting for your cue to walk, “I’ll save you a dance though.” He smiles warmly at you and you wink back at him. 

The wedding party practices walking in a couple times, Risa’s uncle gives and overview of the ceremony. You pretend not to notice Joe watching you. Shanna definitely noticed and made Joe switch chairs with her during the rehearsal dinner under the obvious pretense of needed to discuss their speeches for the next evening. Joe put his arm around the back of your chair while Ryan’s parents were giving speeches about how happy they were to have Risa joining their family. After the dinner is over he offers to drive you home. You feel your face get warm because you immediately picture him kissing you good night. Sadly, you had to decline, “Shanna and I are staying in the hotel room upstairs with Risa. That way we are ready to go with hair and makeup tomorrow.”

Joe purses his lips, “Enjoy your slumber party. I’ll see you at the end of the isle tomorrow.” Joe winks and envelopes you in a tight hug. You bite your lip so you don’t sigh at how great his arms feel wrapped around you. 

************

The day of the wedding is a blast. Getting ready with the bridesmaids is a lot of fun with great music and snacks. Risa had a huge smile on her face the whole day because she’s so excited to be getting married. It warms your heart seeing your friend so happy. Shanna laughs at you when she catches you looking out in the hallway when you are all in the bridal suite of the venue waiting for the guests to arrive. You can tell by her facial expression she knew you were looking for Joe. The photographer did too good of a job keeping the groomsmen separated when you took photos about an hour ago. 

When the bridal party finally goes to line up, your jaw drops at how handsome and dapper Joe looks. He seems to appreciate your glammed up appearance just as much as you enjoy his. 

Joe mutters out, “Y/N… you look…you’re stunning.”

You tilt your head and give a bashful smile, “Thanks. It seems we’re matching again today.”

Joe looks confused, “I’m wearing navy. You’re wearing gold.”

You playfully shake your head at him, “I mean you look great too.”

Joe’s smile is incredibly bright and he extends his elbow for you to take. He basically makes googly eyes at you until you have to walk out. The ceremony was beautiful and heartfelt, only making you cry a few times. After walking back down the aisle with Joe, he handed you a handkerchief. He tells you to keep it till after Ben’s speech at the reception. He helped Ben practice and figures you'll need it again. This was a correct assumption. 

After the dinner, speeches, first dance, and dances with their parents, Risa and Ryan invite everyone else to the dance floor. You are dancing carefree and goofy with the bridesmaids to some fast songs for a while. When the first slow song comes on, Joe is suddenly in front of you. He bows and extends a hand to you. You laugh and place your hand in it. He puts your hand behind his neck, and you bring your other hand up to join it. Joe wraps his arms behind your lower back and pulls you close to him. He rests his head against the side of yours, “I’ve been waiting all day for this.”

You hum, “for what?”

“To get you to myself for a minute or three.” You smile and rest your head on his shoulder. Joe continues, “I’d like to get you alone for longer than that actually.”

You pull back and smirk at him, “Oh yeah?”

Joe huffs, “Not in a dirty way. Not that I’m against that. I just meant like a date. If you want to.” 

You smile and bit your lip “Oh I want to.”

Joe blushes, “I’d actually like more than a date.”

You quirk an eyebrow at him, “what are you thinking?”

“I’d like to be your first best man.” You snort laughing at him. Joe lightly slaps your hip to get you to stop laughing. “I know that was terrible but you know what I mean, right?”

“It was cheesy, but I liked it. I like you. I think we can arrange that.”

Joe smiles, “I like you too.” Joe pulls you back against his chest. You sway with him to the music thinking how his goofy joke was correct. He really is the first best man.


End file.
